Saiz arrested on doping charges

[sanrensho]

Manolo Saiz, director of the Liberty-Seguros team (Vinokourov, ex-Heras), is reported to have been arrested on doping charges. What a freaking mess.

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9907.0.html

This certainly doesn't help Vino's Tour bid this year. Any bets on when Team Phonak will get nailed? (The list of suspended Phonak riders includes Tyler Hamilton, Fabrizio Guidi, Santi Perez, Oscar Camenzind, Sascha Urweider.)

[thewalrus]

Just wait until gene doping becomes common, if it isn't already... You can fly to Brazil for injections of stem cells.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=gene+doping&btnG=Google+Search

[wallyjames]

Maybe I better take some of money off Vinoukourov. Saiz is a major part of the equation. First Heras, now Saiz. Spanish cycling is looking pretty deflated right now.

[thewalrus]

And the #1 bet for this year's Tour, Basso, is coached by Mr 60% himself... Bjarne Riis.

[sanrensho]

I've said this before, but I lost all respect for Saiz after I saw him trying to "help" Beloki get up right after his big crash. Beloki had fractures in his elbow and broke his femur (hip), and his director is helping him stand up? What kind of sh*tty judgment is that?

[sanrensho]

Maybe I better take some of money off Vinoukourov.

Better take off all of that money. There no longer is a "Liberty Seguros" team as we know it--the main sponsor pulled its sponsorship today, effective immediately.

The Spanish police also found a list of 200 riders linked with doping. Shit is about to hit the fan, folks.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/may06/may25news3

[wallyjames]

Yep, this one is going to be bigger than Festina in 98. Maybe Basso will double just like Pantani did that year...

[sanrensho]

Update. Phonak just suspended Botero and Gutierrez for suspected involvement in the Fuentes doping scandal. This after Gutierrez just finished 2nd in the Giro.

It's not like Landis gets much support from some of his teammates (Pereiro in particular). Maybe he should jump ship to back to Discovery for a year or two.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/jun06/jun02news3

[Robot]

More here:

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9947.0.html

[thewalrus]

I guess the Kazakhs don't care as much about doping scandals? The ASO can still ban Saiz and Co. from le Tour on its own, without a decision from the Spanish cycling federation or UCI. What a mess this will be if the Kazakhs have invested a bunch of money to support Vinokourov, and he can't ride the Tour or Vuelta.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/jun06/jun03news

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/9946.0.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astana-W%C3%BCrth_Cycling_Team

Sáiz's team becomes Astana-Würth

The cycling team of Manolo Sáiz and Pablo Antón has a new sponsor: Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The team's management company Active Bay announced this on Friday, saying that the deal would be for at least three years, with the possibility of an expansion to six, and the team will now be known as Astana-Würth. The new sponsor is endorsed by five of the biggest companies in Kazakhstan, which is enjoying a strong economical upturn thanks to its abundant natural resources.

The Kazakhstani connection is to support Alexandre Vinokourov, who was to be the team's spearhead in the Tour de France. However, the Tour organisers ASO are not happy about having a team headed by Manolo Sáiz in their race: apart from the latest doping affair, Sáiz was also a strong supporter of the ProTour when it was introduced by the UCI in 2004. However, it is up to the Spanish federation to possibly sanction Sáiz, and it will not start any proceedings until the current court case allows it.

[sanrensho]

What a mess this will be if the Kazakhs have invested a bunch of money to support Vinokourov, and he can't ride the Tour or Vuelta.

They probably have an escape clause that releases them from their commitment if the team doesn't race the Tour.